Read all posts from ‘Global Issues’

Cities have long been considered unsustainable for their excessive resource consumption—Howard Odum famously deemed them “parasites” for not contributing to ecosystem regeneration. However, a growing environmental consciousness, accompanied by an emphasis on local and DIY projects, seems to have inspired citizens to get their hands dirty as “green” projects are […]

Amid the dire tragedy of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, I was completely in awe of the world’s response. We seemed to be throwing every possible resource we could at saving lives and healing wounds. The logistics were challenging, as Haiti is an island country whose infrastructure was largely destroyed. And […]

The city of Medellin, Colombia has based its marketing on the city’s transformation, but perhaps this story of rags to riches is hurting its citizens.

The French capital’s new electric car rental scheme Autolib’ raised high hopes as a cost-effective means of making transport more livable and environmentally-friendly in one of Europe’s largest and most-visited cities. However, the program has so far been unable to achieve the same success as the city’s similar bicycle rental […]

Australia’s population is booming, and its cities are undergoing a transformation. Decades of urban sprawl have left devastating impacts, including environmental degradation and insufficient and expensive infrastructure. In urban centres such as Brisbane, high density living (60 to 100 dwellings per hectare) is thus viewed as a key strategy to […]